China's Communist Party expels former executive of defence firm

BEIJING (REUTERS) - A former senior executive at a big Chinese defence industry company owned by a provincial government has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party for corruption, the Party's anti-corruption watchdog said on Monday.

Huang Xiaohu, former party secretary and chairman of China's Anhui Military Industry Group, had been under investigation by the Party since January 2013 for violations of party discipline and the law. "(Huang) used his position to seek benefits for others, accepted huge amounts of bribes, and bribed government workers in huge amounts for illegitimate interests," the Central Commision for Discipline Inspection said in a statement on its website.

China's anti-corruption campaign, launched by President Xi Jinping who vowed to go after high-ranking "tigers" and lowly "flies", has led to the detention of some senior government officials as well as senior executives in major state firms, including PetroChina Co Ltd.

Bringing down corrupt officials in the military has also been a key part of Mr Xi's anti-graft drive to clean up government and consolidate power.